Abandoned but Not Alone (10 page)

“
Hey girl, I was looking for you to say
thanks for the song, it was beautiful. Come on, Steve wants to say thank you as
well.
”
Taking hold of Aviva
’
s hand Hope pulled her from Jason
’
s side leading her back towards the
reception room.  Hope cut Jason a dirty look which told him in spades to back
away from her friend.

Back
amongst the party revelers, Hope pulled Aviva through the buzzing crowd and
headed out of the room.  Passing her dinner table she snagged her purse as they
breezed by, Hope orchestrating their departure with an absolute disregard of
anyone who tried to gain her attention.

“
For goodness sake Hope, slow down!
”

“
Slow down my ass, you got some explaining
to do sister-friend.
”
Opening
the door to a powder room, Hope practically dragged Aviva in behind her,
slamming and locking it shut. 
“
What the
hell are you playing at, I told you Jason is not into black women and where do
I find you, I
’
ll tell you
where, sucking his face off on the balcony like you gone and lost your damn
mind.
”

“
Whatever Hope, this is none of your
business so just drop it.
”

“
Drop it, drop it, no I
’
m not going to drop it. What the hell
were you thinking?!
”

“
It was a kiss on the balcony, what
’
s the big deal? I
’
m sure you
’
ve done far
worse on a bloody balcony in broad daylight!
”

“
We
’
re not talking about me; we
’
re talking about you and Jason, Jason for goodness sake!
”

Pausing in
the touching up of her makeup Aviva paused to look at Hope.
“
Are you mad at me for getting caught
kissing on the balcony, or are you mad because I was kissing Jason?
”

Taken aback
by the directness of her question, Hope, for a moment was at a loss of how to
answer. Aware of how her slight hesitation could be interpreted, she rushed to
give Aviva an answer that would return the conversation to the point she was
making.

“
Jason King is a major league player
Aviva, he
’
s not for
you. He
’
s Steve
’
s best friend I know but, I don
’
t want him for you
–
what I mean to say is you deserve better.
You don
’
t need a man who will
play with you and then revert back to type once he gets what he wants, and girl
you looked like you were about ready to give up that thing, right there on the
balcony.
”

Aviva had
heard enough of Hope
’
s lecture;
she had also heard enough about Jason King for one night. Every time she was
around the man she lost control, Hope was right on one score, she had been
nearly ready to give it up, not once, but twice. She didn
’
t intend for anything else to happen
between them for the foreseeable future, well certainly for the rest of the
night at least. With her makeup repaired, her resolve firmly back in place,
Aviva was ready to party till she dropped; and she knew just the man to keep
her company. Without comment on Hope
’
s warning,
Aviva unlocked the door and passed through in search of Carlos.

The
remnants of dinner had already been cleared from the tables and waiters were
again passing around glasses of champagne. Aviva also saw that the bar was open
for those guests who wanted something stronger. Accepting a glass of wine,
Aviva looked around the room for Carlos. Catching his eyes she inclined her head
towards the dance floor. The DJ had taken over and was pumping some old grooves
from yesteryear. Placing her purse and her empty glass on the table, she joined
Carlos for some old school dancing. She blanked thoughts of Jason from her
mind, well aware that he watched her every progress towards the dance floor.
Reaching Carlos, she flung her arms in the air and began dancing with him in
time to the music. Not a big drinker, she felt the last glass of champagne go
straight to her head. She had also had a glass of wine on arrival at the
reception and three glasses at dinner in an attempt to quell her nervousness at
the impending performance. The last glass, which she knew she had drunk much
too quickly, began to take its toll. She felt good, loose, and Carlos looked
very fine, yes he did, and he knew how to shake his groove thang.

“
You okay, you seem a little unsteady over
there?
”

“
Well what you gonna do about it
–
you gonna help a girl out or what?
”

“
Anything for you sweet, you know that.
”
  Carlos moved closer to Aviva
’
s swaying body and pulled her into his
arms. Moving her hands up his chest, she locked her fingers around his neck as
she looked up into his light brown eyes. Carlos smiled down at Aviva, doing his
best no to laugh at the state she was in. Suddenly her eyes crossed, before
just as suddenly correcting themselves. Carlos wanted to laugh; he couldn
’
t wait to tell her about this when she
was sober. He intended to tease her for all he was worth.

“
You have beautiful eyes Carlos, did
anyone ever tell you that?
”

“
One or two people.
”

“
Well they were right you have very
beautiful eyes Carlos, there I just made it three people.
”
Aviva laughed uproariously at her own
joke.

“
Do you want to get some air, Aviva?
”

“
No, I don
’
t like that balcony. I get into trouble when I go out onto
balconies in the moonlight.
”

Carlos had
witnessed Jason following her outside, and had thought about going out to see
what was taking them so long to return, but had thought better of it, sure that
Aviva
’
s question of whether
he could take Jason would have been put to the test, sooner rather than later
if he had joined them. He had also seen Aviva
’
s re-emergence with a very unhappy looking Hope.

“
Do you want to sit down then?
”

“
No I don
’
t want to sit down, if you don
’
t want to dance with me, just say so and I
’
ll find someone who does.
”

“
It
’
s always a pleasure to dance with you my dear, Aviva.
”

“
Thank you, um
…”

“
Carlos.
”

“
I knew that, silly
–
just couldn
’
t remember there for a minute.  Anyway, I don
’
t want to talk, I want to dance.
”

“
Yes ma
’
am, whatever you say.
”
  Carlos
responded as he pulled Aviva closer to his body, hoping she wasn
’
t a spewer.

~~~~~~~~~~

Steve found
Jason propping up the bar; a brooding look plastered across his face as he
watched Aviva and Carlos dance to one song after another.

“
They look good together don
’
t they?
”

“
Yeah, just what the world needs, another
pretty boy.
”
Jason
snapped back, vexation evident on his face.

“
Something on your mind big guy, or should
I say someone?
”

“
You need to do something, or I might just
ruin your party.
”

Laughing
Steve patted Jason on the shoulder.
“
Don
’
t worry my friend the mood is about to
change. Hope told the DJ to play the electric slide next, believe me, any
self-respecting man over six feet, is gonna high-tail it off that floor in two
seconds flat. I
’
m also
going to do you another favor; when I ask Aviva to dance you can cut in, how
does that sound?
”

“
Sounds like we got ourselves a plan, my
man.
”

“
Well alright then, shall we take up our
positions?
”

“
After you my good man...after you.
”

As the DJ
announced the electric slide, Carlos
’
hands
disentangled Aviva
’
s hands
from around his neck as he made a hasty exit from the dance floor; leaving
behind a lot of squealing women and some die hard men who were ready to take on
the dance. Carlos moved to the side of the dance floor and watched Aviva as the
dancers found their places. Aviva wasn
’
t the most beautiful woman on the dance floor by far, in fact
with so many model types attending the party she fell short on more than one
level. But there was something about her that had caught his attention from the
first moment he had been introduced to her. She had a vitality that transposed
mere beauty and resonated with Carlos.

He had been
in the music business and at the top of his game for a long time. Beautiful
women threw themselves at him all the time. In the beginning he had lapped up
all the attention, had even married a beautiful woman, to realize when it was
too late, she loved his money and fame more than she loved him. After their
divorce she had moved on to a football player and finally to a basketball
player. He wasn
’
t saying
that all beautiful women were only after a man who could give them a certain
life style, he knew that to be untrue, even unfair. But he was shaped by his
experiences and the women he normally came into contact with were usually above
average looking.

He was
ready to settle down once again and he had been giving Aviva some serious
thought on become the next Mrs Ernesto. In the past one of the only spanners in
the works had been that he had yet to get Aviva to admit that she found him
attractive, referring to him as a
‘
dear friend
’
. Enter a certain Jason King, and if his
instincts were correct, Aviva wasn
’
t calling
him
‘
dear
friend
’
.

As Carlos
watched Aviva dance, Jason watched Carlos from the opposite side of the room,
not liking what he saw any more than when he had seen them together earlier. As
the song drew to an end, Steve maneuvered his way through the dancers towards
Aviva, only just beating Carlos who was about to claim her for another dance.
Steve smiled and shrugged at Carlos as he spun her in Jason
’
s direction where he stood waiting, just
as they had planned. Not wanting to appear too obvious Steve slowed his
movements and looked down at Aviva who appeared more than a little glassy eyed
and slightly sick at the spin he had just executed.

“
Thank you for the song, it was beautiful,
Hope and I appreciated it very much.
”

“
Welcome Seeve, you knowed I
’
d do anythink for you and Hop.
”

Never
having seen Aviva intoxicated, Steve was hard pressed not to laugh. Jason would
be lucky to get anything coherent out of her for the rest of the night. Hell,
he
’
d be lucky if she didn
’
t puke all over him. Aviva made a funny
little sound and Steve was more than ready for Jason to cut in and take her off
his hands. Steve felt a hand tap him on the shoulder, relinquishing his hold he
handed her over and left the room to call for Jason
’
s car to take them home. That girl needed to lie down before she
fell down.

“’
son I
’
m frunk...don
’
t feel so
good.
”

“
I can see that Angel, you gonna be sick?
”

“
Don
’
t know, maybe
…”

“
Can you walk?
”